


Constants

by hybridempress



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: M/M, Misunderstandings, Tumblr: otpprompts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-03
Updated: 2016-08-03
Packaged: 2018-07-29 04:55:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7670920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hybridempress/pseuds/hybridempress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world full of things that are always changing, Antonio has always had Francis by his side, but a misunderstanding could leave their relationship in the dust with every other part of Antonio's life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Constants

Life seemed to always be changing for Antonio. When you’re a man who prefers to go with the flow, that’s just how it is. People come and go as they please, new memories are made every day, and there’s no time to feel one thing for so long that it consumes you. Traditions twisted and changed, sometimes so much that they shattered and turned into something completely new. Antonio’s schedule was almost never the same from week to week. What was the point in following a strict agenda and planning every moment of your life when spontaneity was so much more fun?

But there was one part of Antonio’s life that he never saw changing. There was a constant; a single pillar that would always be there to support him, no matter how much the rest of his structure crumbled around him. There was one thing that Antonio was sure he couldn't function without.

With this constant came a tradition that hadn’t twisted, changed, or shattered since it had formed nearly three years ago. It was something so simple that it never needed to be altered, yet so profound that shattering it would be life-changing. It was funny just how much such a small gesture could mean to somebody. 

Antonio’s constant was Francis; his boyfriend. A man Antonio had met six years ago and had started dating after three. Francis seemed to be the one person in Antonio’s life who was determined not to be swept away by the waves of the vast ocean that was Antonio’s life. Francis was the only person who had ever made the effort to keep up with him. Eventually, Antonio agreed to slow down for him.

The tradition was to bring a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of wine to Francis’ home every time he was invited over for dinner. It had started the very first evening that Antonio had ever been to Francis’ apartment; he had brought a bouquet of thornless yellow roses with red tips that he had special-ordered from a local florist specifically for the occasion, and a bottle of white wine from a brand that Francis had mentioned was hard for him to find. Antonio didn’t understand at first why Francis’ eyes had started watering. Francis had apologized, saying that no one had ever done something quite as sweet for him before. Antonio promised himself that he would never step foot into Francis’ home without a gift for the man who doubled as his host and his love. 

But tonight would mark the end of that tradition, and the start of something entirely new. Tonight was the night that Antonio and Francis would begin living together in Francis’ apartment. Tonight, Antonio would bring Francis one last arrangement of flowers, of red and white roses to symbolize unity and undying love, and a bottle of red wine from the year they met each other that Antonio’s grandfather had sent to him upon hearing the news. Tomorrow, Antonio would begin the tradition of waking up next to Francis every morning for what he hoped would be the rest of his life. 

He had the wine. It was wrapped in a small, decorative blanket and held in a basket in the trunk of his car. He had a rich, homemade chocolate cake sitting in another basket in the passenger’s seat. All he needed now were the flowers, which had been picked out and arranged and were waiting for him at the flower shop on the corner of Marquis Drive and 2nd Street. It was the only stop he had to make before heading to Francis’ apartment. 

When she heard the soft jingling of the wood chimes that swayed from side to side against the door, the shop owner looked up from the flowers that she was pruning and turned her head to greet whoever had come into the shop. When she saw Antonio, she smiled warmly at him. She should have known it would have been him.

“Good evening, Tonio!” she said cheerfully.

“Evening, Emma!” Antonio said, smiling back at her. “Are my flowers ready?” 

“You know it!” Emma said, setting her clippers down on the table that she had been working at, and removing her gloves as well. “Wait here, just a sec,” she said, and quickly walked to the back room to retrieve Antonio’s bouquet. 

While Emma was gone, Antonio took the liberty of exploring the shop a little. He hadn’t been able to stop by here in a while, and it was nice to be able to see all of the beautiful flower arrangements that Emma was growing and caring for. However, there was one thing that _really_ caught Antonio’s attention, and it was the one thing in the whole shop that wasn’t a plant. 

_”Dios mio,”_ Antonio muttered to himself, and dashed to the line of larger-than-life teddy bears that was almost hidden in the corner of the shop. 

It was just then that Emma came out of the back room with Antonio’s flowers. When Antonio heard the door open, he quickly turned around so that he could see Emma, grinning from ear to ear. “Where did these guys come from??” he asked.

Emma set Antonio’s bouquet down on the counter and looked up at Antonio, and then shifted her gaze to the teddy bears that Antonio was standing next to. She laughed softly. “Oh, Abel thought we should try bundling certain flower arrangements with those huge teddy bears, thinking they would get really popular. So far we haven’t had any luck, though. Abel’s really upset, and those guys just kinda sit in the back of the shop… I think people are intimidated by them,” she said. 

Antonio laughed with her. “If I wasn’t supposed to be at Francis’ place soon, I’d totally order and arrangement with one of them,” he said. “Listen, call me later and remind me to do it, okay?” He ran a hand through his hair, laughing a little harder and shaking his head. “Ah, man, I gotta get a picture of this and send it to Francis… He’ll get a kick out of it…”

Antonio pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened the camera without unlocking the phone. He flipped the camera so that it was front-facing and squatted next to the bear. He reached his arm as far as possible to get as much of himself and the bear into the picture as possible. He flashed a peace sign and took a selfie with the bear.

Satisfied with the result, Antonio stood up again and unlocked his phone. He opened up his text messages and found his conversation with Francis. He attached the picture to a text that said “sorry but I’m leaving u, I found someone else” and hit “Send”. He didn’t wait for the message to finish sending before he closed his phone and slipped it back into his pocket. 

Emma continued to laugh as Antonio exchanged his phone for his wallet and began to walk to the counter. He’d ordered flowers from this place so many times before that he knew exactly how much it would cost, and how much he should tip. He pulled the cash out of his wallet and set it down on the counter before putting his wallet back into his pocket and picking the bouquet up off the counter. 

“Thanks again, Emma. You’re the best,” he said. 

“No problem, Tonio! And congrats again to you and Francis!” Emma said. 

“Thanks!” Antonio said again, smiling and waving to Emma briefly before turning away from the counter and walking out of the shop.

Antonio didn’t bother to check his phone again before getting back into his car. He was sure he would have a laugh with Francis over the picture when he got to Francis’ apartment. He had forgotten that this was the one part of the city where the cell service was selectively spotty. 

If the joke had played out the way Antonio had wanted it to, Francis indeed would have found it hilarious. He would have laughed. He would have come up with a snarky reply. He would have teased Antonio about it later. But the joke didn’t play out the way Antonio wanted it to. 

Francis had been finishing up dinner when he heard his phone vibrate on the counter opposite of where he was working. He backed away from the counter and turned around to grabbed his phone off of the other counter. He smiled when he saw Antonio’s name on his phone screen, but his stomach dropped when he saw the message attached to it. 

**[Tonio]: sorry but I’m leaving u, I found someone else**

There had to be something missing. The text was longer than what the screen was showing. Antonio would send another text explaining himself. He’d read the wrong name. Francis had to be missing _something._

With shaking hands, Francis unlocked his phone and went into his text messages. He opened his conversation with Antonio and waited for something, _anything,_ to explain the message he had received. But there was nothing. Just that message and nothing else.

**[Tonio]: sorry but I’m leaving u, I found someone else**

Francis didn't even know how to react. This couldn't be real. It was so out of the blue, so vague, and so callous. This had to be a mistake. This has to be a dream.

Francis gasped sharply, and his breath caught in his throat. He almost dropped his phone on the counter as he tried to set it down. He covered his mouth with his hand, and his eyes began to water as he stared down at his phone screen.

He and Antonio had been dating for three years. They had known each other for six. Antonio was supposed to be moving in with him tonight. They were supposed to be celebrating.

Instead, Antonio had broken up with him? Over a _text?_ Because he had met _someone else?_

Francis had never dreamed that Antonio could have been so shallow. Antonio was his soulmate, his best friend, his constant. The one thing in his life that was never supposed to change. The one person who was supposed to always be there for him. And he had broken up with Francis, on the night that they were supposed to move in together, _over a text?_

Francis didn't even have the heart to respond. If Antonio was cruel enough to break up with Francis like this, then he didn't deserve to have a reaction. More than that, though, Francis just knew that he wouldn't be able to come up with the words for a reply. Not right now, at least.

He left his phone on the counter and left the kitchen, crying. He didn't bother to turn the stove off, even though every part of him knew that it was dangerous to leave it unattended like that. He just couldn't be bothered with it.

_Dying in a fire would hurt less than this,_ he thought.

By the time Francis had settled into his bed and had begun to cry into his pillow, Antonio was right outside the parking lot of Francis’ building. It was harder than he had figured, trying to carry two baskets and a bouquet of flowers, but he managed it.

He had a key to Francis’ apartment, but it was hard enough trying to juggle all of the items that he was carrying without having to try and unlock the door as well. Besides, Antonio always loved seeing Francis’ smile whenever he opened the door to let Antonio in.

He knocked on the door quickly and firmly, holding both the basket with the wine in it and the bouquet of roses in the hand that he was knocking with. When he pulled his knuckles away from the door, he tried to hide the roses behind his back, even though he knew that Francis was expecting them anyways. He had expected a quick answer, but a few minutes had passed and the door still hadn't been opened. So, naturally, Antonio simply knocked again.

However, once again, Antonio received no answer. He couldn't deny, it made him a little worried. He was sure everything was fine, though. Maybe Francis was in the bathroom, or he was still cooking, or something. Antonio would just have to let himself in.

He set the cake basket down and pulled his keyring out of his pocket. He grabbed the key to Francis’ apartment and stuck it into the lock, twisting it until he felt the door unlock, and then grabbing the doorknob to twist it open. He picked up the cake basket and brought it into the apartment, and set everything down by the door before taking his keys back, putting them into his pocket again, and shutting the door.

“Francis? _Mi amor?_ Where you at?” Antonio called out, starting to walk through the apartment to find out where Francis was.

The first place Antonio checked was the kitchen. That was the most logical place for Francis to be at the moment. And yet, when Antonio looked into the kitchen he saw that it was empty, even though the stove was still on low heat and there was food simmering on it. 

Antonio pursed his lips. It wasn’t like Francis to be irresponsible enough to leave a lighted stove unattended. Furthermore, Antonio noticed that Francis’ phone was on the counter. The apartment seemed nearly silent. Where on Earth could Francis be? 

“ _Amor?_ Francis, are you even here?” 

Antonio started to search through the rest of the apartment. It was larger than some of the other apartments in the building because it was one of the two suites on the top floor. Francis’ bedroom was at the end of the short hallway in the suite, and Antonio started to head down that way after scanning over the front room again.

As Antonio stood outside of Francis’ bedroom, he began to hear what sounded like sniffles, accompanied by the occasional sob or cough coming from inside. Antonio furrowed his brows. Was that Francis? Was he crying? What was going on?

“Francis?” Antonio called, more as a warning than anything else, before opening the door and stepping into the room.

Francis’ breath caught in his throat when he heard Antonio’s voice outside his bedroom. He hadn’t heard Antonio come in and hadn’t heard him calling before because the walls in the apartment were thick, and he had his head pressed deep into a pillow. He almost thought he had imagined Antonio’s voice, but the sound of the door being opened and footsteps pressing into the room was unmistakable. 

Francis pushed himself into a sitting position and stared at the door with wide eyes, which quickly fell upon Antonio, who was now walking over to Francis’ bed. When Antonio saw Francis’ tear-stained face, his expression hardened. His footsteps became quicker, and he was sitting on Francis’ bed, right next to him, before Francis could get a word in. 

“Francis, _bebé,_ what’s wrong, why are you crying?” 

Francis genuinely did not know how to react. What was Antonio doing here, after having sent that text earlier? Why did he look so concerned, and so confused? How could he not know why Francis was crying? 

“T-Tonio, I-I thought you- Wh-what are you doing here?”

Francis’ words only made Antonio more confused. He furrowed his brows, frowning deeply. “What do you mean, Francis? Why wouldn’t I be here?” 

“Y-you texted me earlier, I thought- Why would you be here?? You said you were with someone else!” Francis said. 

“Francis, I texted you when I was in the flower shop. Where did you think I was? You actually thought I was blowing you off for a teddy bear?” Antonio asked, trying to keep himself from laughing in disbelief.

Francis could only stare at Antonio in utter confusion. “What are you talking about??” he asked, almost demanding an answer.

“The picture I sent you, Francis!” Antonio exclaimed.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Antonio! I didn’t get any picture!” Francis yelled.

Antonio’s face fell a little. “Wait, what?” 

Francis had started crying hard again at this point. “All I got was a stupid text from you saying that you were leaving me for someone else! How could you do that to me, Antonio!? We’ve been dating for three years and you don’t even have the decency to talk to me in person?? You dump me over a _text??_ ” 

Antonio’s stomach dropped. His normally tan face began to look almost deathly pale. He shook his head, slowly but deliberately. “No, no Francis I’m not- I didn’t mean it like that, Francis, it was supposed to be a joke-”

Rather than calming Francis down, Antonio’s words only served to make Francis even more angry. “What do you mean it was supposed to be a _joke??_ How could that have been taken as a _joke,_ Antonio? What kind of person do you have to be to get your kicks from telling someone that you’re going to break up with them??” 

Antonio kept shaking his head. “No, Francis, there was a picture that went with it I thought I had sent you the picture, it was supposed to be funny, I-” He ran a shaky hand through his hair, taking a deep breath and trying to keep his eyes from watering. 

It was going to be okay, he could fix this. All he had to do was show Francis the picture, it would be okay. This would be something that they looked back on and laughed at in ten years. He just had to prove himself, he just had to explain it. 

“H-hang on, hang on, look,” Antonio pleaded, reaching into his pocket to pull his cellphone out of it. He unlocked his phone as fast as he could with his trembling fingers, and pulled up his conversation with Francis. He swore under his breath when he noticed that there was an alert by the picture, saying that it had never been delivered. 

Antonio took another deep breath and turned his phone around so that Francis could see the screen. “L-look, see, look, i-it was a joke, there was supposed to be a picture with it, I thought it would make you laugh, I- Oh, God, Francis, I’m so sorry.”

Francis’ breath hitched as he stared at the screen. Antonio had been telling the truth, there was a picture that was supposed to go with the message. It had failed to deliver. The beginning of the joke had failed to deliver and all Francis received was the punchline. More like a punch in the gut. 

Suddenly, Francis felt even more terrible than he had before. Antonio was right, Francis would have found that hilarious if he had actually been able to see the picture. But furthermore, Francis couldn’t believe that he had actually thought Antonio would have done something like this without a good explanation. He couldn’t believe that he had really thought that Antonio would have been terrible enough to break up with him over a text with no explanation at all. He felt so stupid. 

“O-oh, Antonio, I-I…- I-I’m so sorry, I should have known that you- I’m sorry-”

Antonio dropped his phone on the bed and quickly wrapped his arms around Francis, pulling him into a tight hug. “No, no, Francis, don’t apologize. It’s not your fault, it’s mine. I should have made sure that the message sent. I shouldn’t have even tried to joke about it in the first place- I’m really sorry, Francis. It’s not your fault. I love you so much, Francis. I’m sorry.” 

Francis quickly wrapped his arms around Antonio’s waist and buried his face into Antonio’s chest. He hugged Antonio as tightly as possible, and took deep breaths to calm himself down. “It’s okay, it’s okay… It was just a misunderstanding, you didn’t do anything wrong… It’s okay, I love you…” 

Antonio ran his fingers through Francis’ hair for a moment, and kissed his forehead tenderly. After a while, he pulled away from Francis, but held Francis’ shoulders gently. “Hey, come on. We’re supposed to be celebrating, aren’t we? We live together now. I brought you flowers…” he said.

Francis gasped softly in delight. “Really?” he asked.

Antonio grinned faintly. “Of course I did. I wouldn’t break our tradition tonight, of all nights,” he said. 

Francis laughed. “No, of course you wouldn’t,” he said.

Francis was Antonio’s constant. He was the one thing that hadn’t changed at all in the last six years of Antonio’s life. He was the one thing that Antonio never wanted to lose. Tonight marked the end of an era for Antonio. It marked the end of the time that Antonio spent on his own, taking care of himself. From now on, he and Francis were a team. Always. 

For some reason, Antonio felt like there were a lot of things in his life that were going to change soon. But after they changed, maybe they would become constants, too. Whatever happened, though, Antonio knew it would be okay. As long as he had Francis, everything would be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> the mood of this fic started out really nice and the summary is like kind of dramatic but this fic is really cheesy and dumb and i feel like i could have gone in an entirely different direction and now im just like,,, eh,,, but ya know, i wrote a frain fic so i'm proud of myself lmao. Anyways this is based off of a prompt that I saw floating around on tumblr from the otpprompts blog:
> 
> Imagine that person A decides to send person B a picture of themselves next to a funny statue/really weird stuffed animal/the worlds most beautiful chocolate cake/whatever else with the caption “im leaving you i found someone else” thinking person B would find it hilarious, except they send the caption before the picture and the signal is bad so person B doesn’t see the picture, just the caption, and they start crying.


End file.
